From 130 heart-shaped boxes filled with rose soap to €9,000 on pasta buffets, election candidates spared no expense in treating potential voters.
In obligatory expenses filings, candidates from both parties admitted blowing money on gifts and entertainment, seemingly in violation of a law that forbids the practice known as treating.
The electoral law defines treating as the act of providing food, drink, entertainment or goods, for the purpose of corruptly influencing people’s votes.
Joe Giglio, the PN’s biggest campaign spender, dropped €462.15 on the rose boxes on March 4. The timing of the invoice indicates they were meant as a gift for Women’s Day on March 8.
Labour Party’s Owen Bonnici took a different tack, in the knowledge that the way to a voter’s heart is through his (or her) stomach.
He held two “pasta buffets” on successive nights at the Grand Excelsior in Floriana, at a total cost of €9,600.
Bonnici spent a further €2,000 to provide drinks during the same event.
The boozy route was one favoured by Roderick Galdes, the campaign’s biggest spender.
Galdes, the minister responsible for housing, dropped €4,300 on “alcohol” during the election campaign.
He spent a further €11,400 on canapes, “beverages for adults” and “beverages for children” during a campaign event at Limestone Heritage in Siġġiewi.
Ryan Callus, an engineer, knows a good campaign knees-up is useless without the right tools to get the job done.
The Nationalist MP’s filings show that he spent €260 on 400 personalised aluminium bottle openers.
Zammit Lewis blunder
A €1,100 Edward Zammit Lewis election campaign event at Villa Arrigo in Naxxar was invoiced to the Justice Ministry, raising red flags at the Electoral Commission.
The invoice for ham and cheese sandwiches, pastizzi and tea for a campaign coffee morning event listed the government ministry as the client, rather than Zammit Lewis personally or his election campaign office.
A ministry official was even listed as the contact person for the event, raising questions about whether government resources were being used on personal campaigns.
When questioned about the invoice by the election watchdog, Zammit Lewis said the invoice had clearly been addressed to the wrong entity. He said the invoice should have instead been addressed to his campaign office.
He vowed that the coffee morning had been funded by his campaign, rather than government funds.
Zammit Lewis said the event had been funded from ticket sales for the coffee morning, which covered the expenses of that same event.
The former justice minister, who was not re-appointed to cabinet, declared a total campaign spend of €7,929.
Zammit Lewis declared the bulk of the money, €5,859, went on “miscellaneous expenses”.
According to his declaration, all of the campaign expenses were self-funded, with no donations received by the former minister.